§8574 Strategy to counter role of the People’s Republic of China in evasion of sanctions with respect to Iran

Summary

The Secretary of State must, within 120 days after April 24, 2024, send Congress a written plan and give a briefing about how the People’s Republic of China helps evade U.S. sanctions on Iranian-origin petroleum products. The plan must look at ways to strengthen enforcement and to expand sanctions that target Chinese roles in producing, moving, storing, refining, and selling those petroleum products. The plan must describe how U.S. sanctions used before April 24, 2024, were applied to Chinese people and companies tied to smuggling. It must assess things like Iranian-owned firms in China, China’s role in global refining and trade, China’s energy partners, how much of China’s energy use comes from illegally imported Iranian oil, and how much influence the Chinese Communist Party has over private “teapot” refineries. The plan must also include a detailed approach for watching ships and ports, finding vessels and companies that move or store sanctioned petrochemicals (including ship-to-ship transfers, ships with turned-off tracking, or ships that change flags), and stopping violators by working with insurers, parent firms, and ship operators. It must propose working with U.S. allies and maritime task forces to build enforcement capacity, use public diplomacy to highlight how smuggling supports Iran’s terrorism and nuclear efforts, and estimate numbers of smuggling vessels (overall, heading to China, and tied to the IRGC), any Chinese interference with U.S. enforcement, the impact on insurers, needed personnel and resources, and the effect on global energy markets. The report must be unclassified but may include a classified index.